


Space Oddity

by PsychicPineapple



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alien Stiles Stilinski, Alternate Universe, M/M, One Shot, derek is still a werewolf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 07:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1379437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PsychicPineapple/pseuds/PsychicPineapple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles crash landed, and Derek mentally kicked himself at least once a day for letting his curiosity get the better of him; for dragging himself out into the trees in the dead of night, drawn by the pale green flash of light.</p><p>**</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Stiles gripped Derek’s wrist, pulling him up with a strength that belied his size. ‘I gotta say, you’re taking this, like, incredibly well for someone who just found alien life in his back yard.’</i></p><p>  <br/><i>Derek just smiled a little, shrugged. ‘I’m a werewolf.’</i></p><p>  <br/><i>‘Oh, cool,’ Stiles nodded. ‘What’s that?’ </i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Space Oddity

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! This was a little brain-bug based on a sticker I see every day in the work locker room that says 'I'm normal on my home planet'. Spur of the moment, rushed bit of fun - so, unbetad. If there are any glaring errors feel free to point them out. Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

Derek’s life had been quiet before that night in the woods. Quiet, and calm. He mentally kicked himself at least once a day since then for letting his curiosity get the better of him; for dragging himself out into the trees in the dead of night, drawn by the pale green flash of light.

 

At first he’d thought it was some kids messing around with fireworks, though it was unusual for them to come out that far. It was the best theory he had until he passed through the trees and saw what looked like an enormous, irregularly shaped boulder sitting in a shallow crater. The green glow was pulsing out from the boulder, light shining through cracks like veins under skin. Derek stepped closer, then closer again, until one of the flashes lit up a figure standing at the edge of the crater, and he stopped in his tracks.

 

The figure was tall and slender, with long limbs and short, dark hair. It seemed to be looking down at the boulder, shoulders slumped and one hand resting on the back of its neck. Derek didn’t recognize him as a local, but then it had been a while since he’d been into town on a social visit. He was considering calling out when the man whipped around as though he’d head something. Derek couldn’t see in the darkness, but he felt with eerie certainty that the man’s eyes were locked on his.

 

‘Hey neighbor,’ another green pulse lit up a boyish face and a broad smile, ‘I’m Stiles.’

 

*

 

They _were_ neighbors, in the strictest sense of the word.

 

‘My galaxy is right by this one,’ Stiles explained, huffing as he and Derek shoved and rolled the boulder – ‘my ship, Peregrina,’ – out of the crater. ‘It orbits the one you call Andromeda. It’s like our houses share a fence,’ he smiled brightly. They gave one last mighty push and Peregrina tipped over the lip of the hole.

 

‘What’s your galaxy called?’ Derek asked causally, wiping sweat from his brow.

 

‘Our name for it doesn’t really translate,’ Stiles explained, hoisting himself out of the crater before turning back to extend a hand to Derek. ‘You call it NGC 147, which is a little lacking in imagination, in my opinion.’ He gripped Derek’s wrist, pulling him up with a strength that belied his size. ‘I gotta say, you’re taking this, like, incredibly well for someone who just found alien life in his back yard.’

 

Derek just smiled a little, shrugged. ‘I’m a werewolf.’

 

‘Oh, cool,’ Stiles nodded. ‘What’s that?’

 

*

 

Peregrina, Derek learned, was less a ship and more a creature. It wasn’t that Stiles had to fix it, more like they just had to give it time to heal on its own. Until then, Stiles was stuck there.

 

*

 

He asked a lot of questions.

 

‘So you’re not human?’

 

‘Sort of. But not really.’

 

‘How strong are you?’

 

‘Strong.’

 

‘Well, yeah. But how many pounds-per-square-inch are we talking, here?’

 

‘I have no idea.’

 

‘Bend this steel bar.’

 

‘No.’

 

‘How do you procreate?’

 

‘Stiles!’ Derek threw his hands up in frustration. ‘Can you cut it out? Please?’

 

‘Sorry,’ Stiles rubbed the back of his neck, ‘being inquisitive is normal on my planet. I’ll try to be better.’

 

*

 

‘Do you have to take up so much space?’ Derek grumbled. He was pressed against the arm of the sofa, one leg crossed over the other. Stiles was sprawled on the remaining two and half cushions, his limbs strewn about haphazardly.

 

‘Is this not okay?’ He asked cautiously, sitting up. ‘Sorry, it’s normal on my planet. I’ll move.’

 

Derek sighed. Stiles was a long way from home, and he was learning. It had been a long while since Derek had shared space with another person, had considered needs other than his own, had had to exercise patience. ‘It’s fine.’

 

Stiles smiled, flopping back down onto the couch. His bare toes burrowed under Derek’s thighs, and Derek shifted to accommodate them.

 

Maybe he was learning a little, too.

 

*

 

‘Whoa!’ Derek did sharp one-eighty degree turn to face away from Stiles. Stiles, who was standing naked in the kitchen drinking a tall glass of pure lemon juice (‘What? I like the taste!’). ‘ _Stiles.’_

‘What?’ Stiles asked, and Derek could hear distress in his voice. ‘Is it the juice thing? Look, I’m using a glass!’

 

‘It’s not the juice,’ Derek gritted out through clenched teeth, ‘it’s the nudity.’

 

‘Ohh,’ Stiles breathed, understanding. ‘Sorry. It’s normal on my planet. I’ll just,’ Derek heard the glass hit the countertop, and then Stiles was squeezing by him to leave the kitchen. Derek wasn’t quick enough to avoid an eyeful of Stile’s pale, mole-dotted butt jiggling jauntily as he headed for the spare bedroom.

 

*

 

Derek stepped outside one morning to see Stiles hanging from one of the uppermost branches of a tall evergreen tree. His legs were hooked over the bough at his knees and he was dangling upside down, arms swaying gently.

 

‘Stiles?’

 

Stiles stopped swaying, his eyes seeking out Derek. His face split into a wide grin, and he waved enthusiastically. ‘Hey, Derek! Morning!’

 

‘What, uh, what are you doing up there?’

 

‘Nothing, really. Just felt like climbing.’ He started to sway again, opening his hands and stretching his fingers out wide. His shirt – one of Derek’s, and a little too big – pooled around his armpits. The image he presented was ridiculous, but he looked so serene that Derek could only smile.

 

‘Let me guess,’ he said through his grin, ‘this is normal on your planet?’

 

‘Something like that,’ Stiles called back, and Derek could hear the smile returned in his voice.

 

*

 

‘Stiles? Stiles!’ Derek’s voice was thick with panic as he patted at Stiles’ cheeks. The alien’s lips were tinged an unnatural shade of orange, his clothes soaked through with freezing water and plastered to his pale skin. If it were anyone else Derek would have started CPR, but he had no idea how Stiles’ anatomy worked. He had spent so much time fielding questions about humans and werewolves and earth that he’d never had the chance to learn much about Stiles at all. Growling with frustration, he sat Stiles’ limp body up, leaning him forward until his chest was braced against Derek’s. He placed his hands on Stiles’ back, alternately running his palms down his spine – or where his spine would be, were he human – in firm strokes, and thumping his back. All the while he spoke, calling Stiles’ name, calling him back.

 

Suddenly the narrow body heaved, there was a gurgling sound and Derek felt warmth trickling down his back as Stiles coughed up river water. He sagged with relief, continuing to rub Stiles’ back soothingly.

 

‘So,’ Stiles croaked out, his lips moving against Derek’s shoulder, ‘rivers are dangerous. I don’t like them. Noted.’

 

Derek didn’t reply, just helped him to his feet and led him back to the cabin.

 

*

 

The warped boards of the porch creaked under Stiles’ feet as he shuffled across them. Derek was sitting on the bottom step, his back to the house. It was dark, but the lights from the house cast a pale yellow glow.

 

‘Are you mad at me?’ Stiles asked, his voice small. Derek’s shoulders tensed, then slumped.

 

‘I didn’t know where you where, or why you left.’ He said, at length. ‘You could have died.’

 

Stiles moved closer, lowering himself down beside Derek on the step. He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and he tightened it to protect himself against the chilly night air. Against Derek’s displeasure.

 

‘I’m sorry. Running off like that, not telling you…it’s just,’

 

‘Normal on your planet?’ Derek cut him off, his words bitter, biting.

 

Stiles huffed out a humorless laugh. ‘No. It’s not. None of it is,’ he admitted quietly. ‘The truth is, I’m just as big of a screw ball on my planet as I am on yours.’

 

In the corner of his eye he saw Derek turn to look at him, but Stiles stared out into the woods. He didn’t dare face Derek’s disappointment.

 

‘It’s why I left. I thought I might fit in better somewhere else, feel more at home. Stupid.’ He sniffled. ‘Peregrina should be healed soon; I won’t bother you again.’

 

They lapsed into silence. To Stiles, the few inches between them felt like vast, black space that he couldn’t traverse.

 

‘Where will you go?’ Derek’s voice startled him. He shrugged. ‘Back, I guess.’

 

‘Is there someone-’ Derek cut himself off, paused. ‘Do you have family?’

 

‘It doesn’t really work like that there. Family isn’t really,’ he waved one hand in an abstract gesture, ‘a thing that we do.’

 

‘In my experience,’ Derek spoke slowly, carefully, ‘home isn’t so much a place as it is people. Or a person.’

 

Stiles finally turned to look at him; his striking face, strong jaw, deep-set eyes. Eyes that were locked on Stiles. ‘I don’t understand.’

 

‘I had a home once,’ Derek explained, ‘with people I loved. And when I lost those people, that place wasn’t home anymore. No matter where I went, I felt homeless.’

 

‘Until here?’ Stiles gestured to the cabin.

 

Derek shook his head. ‘Even here. Until recently.’ He amended, his eyes dancing across Stiles’ face. Stiles felt a tingling in his fingers that he associated with embarrassment, excitement. Anticipation. If it were brighter out, Derek would see his jaw flushing a soft purple.

 

Meeting Derek’s eyes intensified the feeling, so he dropped his gaze and found himself staring at his lips instead. Stiles opened his mouth, though when he thought back on it later he had no idea what he had been going to say. It was moot, in any case, because at that moment Derek leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Stiles’, a firm, dry touch. The tingling rocketed up Stiles’ arms, and he was sure his face was positively violet.

 

Derek pulled back, taking in Stiles’ wide-eyed expression, and laughed. ‘Are you all right?’ He reached up, brushing his thumb over Stiles’ cheek. ‘You look…alarmed.’

 

‘No,’ Stiles voiced came out squeak, and he coughed hastily. ‘No, just – surprised. That, um,’ he gestured between their lips, ‘was that, uh,’

 

‘It’s normal on my planet,’ Derek smirked, moving his hand to cup Stiles’ jaw firmly. ‘It means ‘welcome home’.’

 

Stiles’ grin lit up his whole face, and he surged forward with such enthusiasm he sent them both tumbling off the step, sprawling into the dirt. They lay there, with their arms around each other, looking up at the stars and laughing.

 

*

 

Derek’s life had been quiet before that night in the woods. Quiet, and calm. And, okay, maybe a little dull. He mentally congratulated himself at least once a day for letting his curiosity get the better of him; for dragging himself out into the trees in the dead of night, drawn by the pale green flash of light. If he hadn’t done that, he often thought as he curled around Stiles in the quiet of the morning, he might never have found his way home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find my blog at tylergoddamnposey.tumblr.com


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